Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting the issue. The number of children and adolescents awaiting first-time assessment for occupational therapy nationally as of January 2019 was 16,868, a fairly depressing figure. However, the response to a parliamentary question I tabled last week reveals serious inconsistencies in the number of children and adolescents on waiting lists in different counties and local health areas.

The delivery of occupational therapy across the country is deeply unequal. For example, 1,353 children and adolescents were on the waiting list in Wexford according to the January statistics. A total of 666 of these children and adolescents had waited for more than a year for an initial assessment. By contrast, County Clare had only 41 children and adolescents on the list, 39 of whom had been waiting for less than 12 weeks while the remaining two children had been waiting for between 12 and 26 weeks. The number on the waiting list in Limerick as of January was 95, with only five children in Limerick waiting for more than 26 weeks. While these wait times are not ideal, most people would agree that the occupational therapy departments and staff in these local health areas are performing well based on these figures.

However, the national average number of children and adolescents on waiting lists for paediatric occupational therapy in January was 411. The number of children and adolescents waiting for an assessment in Wexford was more than three times the national average. The number of children and adolescents on the waiting list in Wexford was 33 times higher than the number on the waiting list in Clare. Wexford had the second highest number of children on the waiting list according to the data I received. Only Laois-Offaly had a higher figure. The numbers on the waiting lists in Wexford, north of the Lee in Cork and Laois-Offaly are total outliers and those lists need to be tackled as a matter of urgency.

In its response to me last week, the HSE advised that it could not provide a further breakdown for the number of children and adolescents waiting for more than 52 weeks. However, a letter from the HSE to the parent of a child awaiting assessment in Wexford shows that the Wexford local health office is currently dealing with occupational therapy referrals from June 2016, with a waiting list of two years and nine months. The letter goes on to state that resources are limited in Wexford with a 40% reduction in staffing in the past year and that, according to a children mapping process, Wexford requires 35 posts to deal with the demand for this service. The letter is dated 14 March 2019 and notes that as of that date 1,429 children and young people were on the occupational therapy waiting list in Wexford. This represents an increase of more than 5% on the figure I received for January. Things are getting worse and not better. The tone of the letter is remarkable. It was sent by the occupational therapy manager in Wexford and, based on the letter, she is clearly exasperated and worn out by the lack of resources available to her and her staff.

I am still awaiting an answer from the HSE in response to another parliamentary question on the number and locations of paediatric occupational therapist vacancies nationally. A parent in Wexford has told me that Wexford has three occupational therapy vacancies at the moment. What steps will the Minister take to recruit occupational therapists in Wexford? How many occupational therapists currently work in Wexford? How many occupational therapists is the HSE trying to recruit for Wexford? When does the HSE hope to appoint these occupational therapists? Does the Minister believe that occupational therapy services for children and adolescents are adequately funded?

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